In 1782, tellurium was discovered. An impure piece of gold was its cover.

But Boron Franz Joseph Müller von Reichenstein saw its bluff. The star Lizzie Maguire is Hillary Duff.

He thought it was a new element, so tests were made. Over a three year period his determination didn't fade.

Tellurium is a solid, not a gas. 127.60 is its atomic mass.

 

Historical background
Industrial Uses
Physical Properties
Chemical Properties
Hazards
Compounds

 

Historical Background
Tellurium was discovered in 1782 by an Austrian mineralogist named Boron Franz Joseph Müller von Reichenstein. Müller and his colleague were studying gold from the Börzsöny Mountains of Hungary. Whilst studying, his colleague approached him with piece of gold that had what he though was an impurity, but Müller suspected that the impurity was actually a new element. He ran over fifty tests on the suspected element over a three-year period. To confirm his discover, he sent the suspected element to German chemist Martin Heinrich Klaproth. Klaproth confirmed Müller’s discovery, and even suggested the name tellurium, from the Latin word tellus, meaning “Earth.” Tellurium has also been known as aurum paradoxum, meaning “paradoxical gold”, and metalium problematum, meaning “the problem metal.”

Industrial Uses
Tellurium improves the machinability of copper and stainless steel, and its addition to lead decreases the corrosive action of sulfuric acid on lead and improves its strength and hardness. It is also used in ceramics, it is a basic ingredient in blasting caps, and is added to cast iron for “chill control.” Bismuth telluride, a thermoelectric compound between bismuth and tellurium, has been used in thermoelectric devices.

Chemical Properties

Tellurium dissolves in most acids and alkalis, but not in water. Tellurium also has the unusual property of combining with gold, which normally combines with very few elements. The compound between the two is called gold telluride (Au2Te3). Much of the gold found on earth is in the form of gold telluride.

 

Physical Properties

Tellurium is white/ grayish white metal looking non-metal that is usually obtained as a dark grey powder. It has a melting point of 449.8°C (841.6°F) and a boiling point of 989.9°C (1814°F). It has a density of 6.24 grams per cubic centimeter. It is relatively soft, it breaks away easily, and, although it has many metal-like properties, does not conduct electric current very well.
Table
Boiling Point 1261 K, 988 °C, 1810 °F
Melting Point 722.66 K, 449.51 °C, 841.12 °F
Density 5.70
Protons 52
Neutrons 76
Electrons 52
Electrons per shell 2, 8, 18, 18, 6

Hazards

Tellurium is not harmful or readily rendered harmless by natural processes, but when heated to decomposition, tellurium chloride (TeCl4), a compound between tellurium and chlorine, might release toxic fumes of both tellurium and chlorine.

 

Compounds
Tellurium forms similar compounds as sulfur and selenium. Tellurium has four main kinds of compounds: tellurides, telluartes, tellurites, and tellurols. A telluride is a compound with a meatal or hydrogen ans similar ions, such as gold and silver, compounds with tellurate ions are konwn as tellurates, compounds with the anion TeO32- are tellurites, and tellurium analogs of alchohal and thiols are called tellurols.

 

 

Glossary
Chemial Compunds Pure chemical substances consisting of two or more different chemical elements that cannot be separated into simpler substances and that have a unique and defined chemical structure.
Machinability Capable of being cut or shaped with machine tools.
Density Mass per unit volume.
Impurity The quality or state of being impure.

 

Bibliography
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